justiceOPportunity Thursday: April 2, 2020

Sr. Judy Lu McDonnell, OPMs. Lyn Kirkconnell

It’s #justiceOPportunity Thursday and as the Supreme Court moves closer to its decision on the legality of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, we wish to highlight our support for these 700,000-immigrant youth brought to our country at an early age through no action on their part and invite you to join us in signing this petition to DELAY issuing a ruling on DACA during the national health emergency.

Plaintiffs in one of the cases challenging the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA filed a letter with the Supreme Court asking them to consider the real-world consequences of the COVID-19 global health crisis for more than 700,000 DACA recipients and their families – including their 256,000 U.S. citizen children. The letter argues that if the Court upholds Trump’s termination of DACA and deprives 700,000 people of their deportation protections, their jobs and therefore their healthcare, that it would wreak havoc on an already fragile health care system.

The Supreme Court has a responsibility to consider the new circumstances that DACA recipients face because of the coronavirus. These circumstances have caused a ripple effect that compounds anxieties around the real threat of deportations, financial instability, education, access to health care and treatment, and caretaking of their loved ones. These basic human rights are at stake during an unprecedented public health crisis that will jeopardize immigrant youth who are grocery store workers, child care providers, cleaners, business owners, and first responders as well as the almost 27,000 DACA recipients who are doctors, nurses, and paramedics so vitally needed in this time of national crisis. When the nation needs them the most, they could be pulled from the workforce.